What happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas

There are seven tracks on the NASCAR circuit that measure 1.5 miles in length and have either a doglegged or double-doglegged frontstretch; these are commonly known as the "cookie-cutter" courses. Just as recipes differ for a variety of cookies, all seven of these tracks have subtle differences that impact how teams approach them.

Individual track records cannot be ignored, but fantasy owners will find that looking at these courses collectively will help determine who should be started this week.

Horsepower and handling are the keys to success on unrestricted, intermediate speedways and both of those characteristics require a thick wallet, so there will not be very many dark horses driving for lightly funded owners. This is a week in which players should be conservative and evenly distribute their money among marquee teams.


Jimmie Johnson and Brad Keselowski still look to be the class of the field as both have opened the year with back-to-back top-five finishes. More importantly, Carl Edwards looks like he may rejoin the ranks of the fantasy elite after snapping his 70-race winless drought at Phoenix last weekend. Of course, we will know a lot more about the long-term prospects of Johnson, Edwards, Keselowski and the rest of the drivers after Sunday's race. After all, the 1.5-mile layout of Las Vegas is the most common track type on the schedule, accounting for 11 of the 36 races.


One driver that will be happy to head to Vegas this weekend is Tony Stewart. He is the defending winner of this weekend's race, and in his last three starts at the track, he has compiled a 3.3 average finish. More importantly, Stewart has had the car to beat in each of the past two seasons at Las Vegas, leading 54.3 percent of the laps. "Smoke" normally waits until later in the year to get hot, but Las Vegas has been an exception. The three-time champ opens the week atop the driver rankings.

Sliding in behind Stewart are the aforementioned Johnson and Edwards. Not only has Johnson opened the year with a win and a second-place run, but his 9.8 average finish at Las Vegas is the best in the series. Johnson is also a four-time winner at the track, and he finished second to Stewart last March. Meanwhile, Edwards is a two-time winner at the track in his own right, and his 10.3 average finish is the second best in the series.

Owners looking for a couple of potential sleepers this weekend may want to consider Marcos Ambrose and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Although he is known mainly as a road course ace, Ambrose has been rock solid at Las Vegas. He has a 12.8 average finish at the track in four starts and has finished in the top 15 in his last three. Stenhouse on the other hand will be making his Las Vegas debut at the Cup Level, but the rookie enjoyed a ton of success at the 1.5-mile tracks in the Nationwide Series. In fact, five of his eight Nationwide wins have come at tracks with similar layouts, including a win at Vegas. Both drivers break into the top 20 in this week's rankings, and both could be sneaky sources for top-15 finishes Sunday.

On the flip side, Kasey Kahne is among the big names that could underwhelm a bit. Although he hasn't been terrible at Las Vegas, he hasn't delivered produced the strong finishes like he has at most 1.5-mile tracks. Kahne has just two top-10s in his last six starts at Vegas, and he has zero top-five finishes during the stretch. Kahne still has a spot in the top 15 of this week's rankings, but fantasy owners have come to expect a little more from the driver.

Matt Kenseth has the record from last year to make him a favorite and two of his current teammates are also among the 13 drivers who scored top 10s in more than half their starts, but there is a huge concern within this organization. Kenseth and Kyle Busch both blew engines in the Daytona 500. Last week, Busch and Denny Hamlin had trouble with their powerplants before the green flag waved at Phoenix International Raceway and the Gibbs guys have to wonder just which parts and pieces are going to fail next.

Clint Bowyer finished sixth in last year’s Kobalt Tools 400, but that was not reflective of his early season on similarly-configured, 1.5-mile tracks. In his next five attempts on this track type, he earned a best result of 13th and had an average of 21.8. That might make him a driver to avoid if he had not finished strong with four consecutive top-10s in the fall. Only one of these was a top-five, but that was a fuel-mileage aided victory in the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte.

Stewart’s teammate Ryan Newman is another driver to avoid this week. He finished fourth in the Kobalt Tools 400 last year, but he had even more significant struggles than the No. 14 team immediately following that strong run. He finished 20th or worse in six of the next nine races on 1.5-mile tracks and the only time he showed a glimmer of strength was in the Geico 400 at Chicago after he had already failed to qualify for the Chase.

That text font was nice and big....easy to read.....thanks Cocoa........especially the

sangria wrote:
That text font was nice and big....easy to read.....thanks Cocoa.......

Sure thing San. We all your going blind in your old age.

What luck . Today at Chemo it was NASCAR Craftsman Truck Day. Clay's Driver was Norm Benning owner and Driver of #57. He hug out with Clay. Did photo Op for the Website. It was beyond cool. Gave his pilot our site address. We looked at it while they were there. Checked out the quick link on the main page and Cocoa's Blogs.




This is Norm at Daytona. Came in 17th after just missing the big wreck. He almost gets tagged after he made it through. He is the Red Truck . Working on sponsorship from Heinz.

Check out 2:12 just makes it through.